This is interesting...

vonDrehle · Aug 13, 2005

I had never heard of this before and thought it was interesting. I found it while looking through some basic photography tips on National Geographic. I enjoyed reading them.

Get SupercloseWithout a Macro Lens
Close-range photography of flowers, insects, and other small details is best accomplished with a macro lens. Their short focal lengths allow you to get close to your subjecteffectively filling your frame with a blossom or beetle.

If you dont have a macro lens and youre shooting with an SLR (single lens reflex) camera, try this: Remove your lens, turn it around, and place the end where your filters attach snugly against your camera body. Zoom the lens out to 50mm or so.

Do not adjust the lens to focus. Instead, move the camera closer to or farther from your subject until you like what you see.

Its not a perfect solution, but it can work in a pinch.

Here is the tip link...
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/pathtoadventure/phototips/tips/close.html#image

Here is the first tip...
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/pathtoadventure/phototips/

I'm sure some of you have already looked over them.

hobbes28 · Aug 13, 2005

we actually have a thread about the super macros and we used to have a super macro guessing game in the themes section. I love doing that style of photography.

www.fatephoto.com/Aubrey/macros.htm

ShutteredEye · Aug 14, 2005

You can buy mounting rings to do this.....so you don't have to invest in a roll of duct tape. :mrgreen:

ferny · Aug 14, 2005

They're called reversal rings. They're a small ring with a thread on one side and the camera mount on the other. You screw it into your filter thread on your lens and then pop it into your camera. If you add coupling rings (small rings with threads on them) you get more magnification. Just like with extensions tubes.
I wouldn't advice reverse mounting a zoom. The way they're designed and built means they're not very good for this sort of thing. Get yourself a cheap prime off of eBay and use that. Remember, it doesn't have to fit your camera either, you're using the lens' thread to mount it with.
And, if you put a zoom on your camera in the normal way and reverse mount and lens on that zoom you can get even greater magnification because you can zoom in on the subject.

Don Simon · Aug 14, 2005

Probably a silly question, but how would doing this affect exposure?

Unimaxium · Aug 14, 2005

ZaphodB said:
Probably a silly question, but how would doing this affect exposure?

It would likely mean you would always have to use the lens at its widest f/stop, unless the lens has a manual aperture control on it (as most older lenses do). Then you just use your camera's meter to set the correct shutter speed.

hobbes28 · Aug 14, 2005

Unimaxium said:
It would likely mean you would always have to use the lens at its widest f/stop, unless the lens has a manual aperture control on it (as most older lenses do). Then you just use your camera's meter to set the correct shutter speed.

Yup. You actually need to just shoot manual without auto exposure and adjust by eye. I did a tutorial on this technique here somewhere using my old point and shoot but the theory is the same.

Video Tutorial